'The government should be afraid if anything happens to my father,' Bello El-Rufai warns

• Bello El Rufai states his family's defiance over his father, Nasir El-Rufai's, ongoing legal battles.

• He sends a strong message that nothing must happen to the former governor while in detention.

• Nasir El-Rufai was arrested after being granted bail by an Abuja Federal High Court

Member of the House of Representatives Honourable Bello El-Rufai, who is the son of former governor of Kaduna State and FCT Minister Nasir El-Rufai, has emphasised his family's defiance in the face of his father's current legal ordeal, which has seen him remain in the custody of law enforcement agencies for the past 2 months.

While speaking to the press following his father's latest arrest by the men of the Department of State Services minutes after he was granted bail by the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, Bello El Rufai said that their family aren't scared of his father's prosecution.

"I am not fearful of anything. Mallam has his health condition set; he's in good health," Bello said, capturing what appears to be the El-Rufai family mindset on the current situation of the former governor, who has been locked in a legal battle between the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Department of State Services (DSS).

On May 18, 2026, El-Rufai was granted bail in the tune of 100 million naira by a Federal High Court in Abuja, where the ICPC is prosecuting him over multiple charges of corruption during his tenure as governor of Kaduna State.

After perfecting the conditions of his bail, El-Rufai was rearrested right in the court premises by the men of the DSS over allegations that he taped the mobile devices of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.

The rearrest follows the previous pattern that has seen the former governor and opposition leader be held in turns by the ICPC and DSS, which both have cases against him.

While addressing the press, Bello El-Rufai sent out a strong message to the law enforcement agencies on the father's well-being.

"And this is a dare. Whoever thinks something will happen to Mallam wrongly, we dare them...Let justice prevail. There are no fears. We saw him enter the DSS office. If something happens to him, they should fear," Bello said after his father was taken into DSS custody.

Since he was arrested in March 2026 following his return to the country from Egypt, El-Rufai has been the subject of a high-profile prosecution by two law enforcement agencies. The former governor, who was a strong ally of President Tinubu before becoming one of his staunchest critics, has entered a non-guilty plea on ICPC's corrupt charge and DSS's charges of tapping the NSA's phone.

Opposition leaders, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former governor of Anambra State Peter Obi, have both demanded El-Rufai's release.

Following his arrest, El-Rufai released a statement claiming he was being pressured by the law enforcement agencies to stay out of politics as a condition for his release. During his time in detention, the popular politician, who in 2025 dumped the ruling All Progressives Congress for the African Democratic Congress, lost his mother, and his wife recently accused the ICPC of stopping him from accessing his doctors.